By Pablo Taricco @ntdla
Editor's Note: As is our custom, every few days we revisit one of the articles published by our colleagues at NTD.la in the previous decade. This time, we decided to revisit Charly García and his unique stories in Belo Horizonte and the surrounding area during the creation of two of his greatest albums.
Part of the story is well-known, the other part not so much: Charly met Marisa Pederneiras in 1977. She was a 17-year-old dancer who had arrived in Buenos Aires with her contemporary dance company. They called her "Zoca," and that's how they introduced her in a bar after the theater performance. Charly was in the final stages of "La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros" (The Bird-Making Machine).” and he had just separated from María Rosa Yorio, the mother of his son Miguel. His ex's new partner was Nito Mestre, who until then had been Charly's best friend.
In retrospect, one might say that those months at the end of 1977 would become a turning point for the musician, marking a period of emotional and artistic crisis. This would be compounded by the atmosphere of censorship and repression imposed by the military dictatorship. That's why, when Charly arrived at the Pederneiras' house in Belo Horizonte, the idea of spending an extended period in Brazil began to appeal to him. Even more so when Zoca's family welcomed him with open arms.
“I had started listening to Milton Nascimento and his music blew my mind. Then, with Zoca, we started going to David Lebón’s house and tried to convince him by all means to come with us to Brazil.” Charly told journalist Daniel Chiróm in his 1983 book, «"Charly García"», plain and simple.
And they convinced him. In mid-1978, the pianist rented a house in Buzios with his friend and his family. It was an apartment “fucking awesome” According to Charly himself, the Lebón family occupied the ground floor, while he and Zoca had a room on the first floor. The days passed amidst music, beer, and acid. Some afternoons, Charly would use the window as a springboard and jump into the pool, a feat he would repeat a few years later in Mendoza.
“Buzios was a really fun time. I stayed in Belo Horizonte but traveled to Buzios constantly. It was full of crazy people smoking joints all the time.” Zoca confessed to journalist Sergio Marchi, author of «"Don't say anything, a life of Charly García.".
That was the Serú Girán nativity scene. Nearly three thousand kilometers from Buenos Aires, in a land where rock was not abundant and where both Charly and Lebón were illustrious unknowns. After a few months, Pedro Aznar and Oscar Moro would join. And they all got along wonderfully at El Dorado studios in the city of São Paulo with Billy Bond as producer.
The rest of the story is well known., and the result would be Serú Girán's first album.
But there's another great Charly album that was conceived in Brazil. It's called Piano Bar, And according to García himself, It was during a vacation in Belo Horizonte in 1984 that he composed his ten songs (number eleven is Song for my death, (a bonus track).
During 1983, the presentations of Modern Clicks They had taken up all of Charly's energy. . The rock-pop sound of the album and its avant-garde aesthetic had surprised everyone, to the point of provoking criticism and reproaches from the press and the public. García's commitment to electronic sounds and provocative pose exploded in Córdoba, when Charly lowered his pants during the show to show everyone how much he cared about their boos.
Later, the album would settle and mark a new direction in Argentine music.. “I also want my children to dance to my records.” said Luis Alberto Spinetta after recounting what happened in his living room when he played Modern Clicks on the record player.
By 1984, Charly deserved a break. Spending a summer at her in-laws' house with Zoca seemed like a great idea. He really enjoyed his mother-in-law's cooking, and walks around Belo Horizonte relaxed him. But when he packed his bags to leave for the Pederneiras' house, he couldn't resist the impulse and, along with the clothes and gifts, He loaded his Yamaha P-55 keyboard. The songs came one after another throughout the days. They would appear during siesta time, in the middle of a stroll through the city center, at night in the company of an ice-cold beer.
“I set up the device expecting it to do one thing, but it rebelled and did another. I started figuring out what it was doing, and that's when the riff from Promises Over the Bidet appeared.” Charly recounted years later. “After eating I went to take a shower, and while I was in the shower, I came up with everything I was going to do with that riff. I asked Zoca to bring me a pencil and paper. All this time I had the shower running full blast and was covered in shampoo. She brought me what I asked for, and sat on the bidet. I wrote under the water, and the rain washed it away.”.
When he returned to Buenos Aires at the end of the summer, he went straight into the studio and recorded what is undoubtedly one of the greatest albums in Argentine rock history. An album that, at least on the surface, seems to have little to do with Brazil. At least musically.
And while it is risky to attribute to Zoca and Belo Horizonte any of Charly's originality and talent, according to the story, There is a love and a Brazilian landscape in the heart of the artist.
